Beria cutter with tow straightened by air currents



i NOV. 16, 1965 g, H, MCG|LL ETAL 3,217,578

BERIA GUTTER WITH TOW STRAIGHTENED BY AIR CURRENTS Filed NOV. 50. 1962 23 "26 l5 Y, V INVENCTORS W BY ssEsRw-Cms ///////`f J 28 FIG.5. AT oRNEY United States Patent O 3,217,578 BERIA CUTTER WITH TOW STRAIGHTENED BY AIR CURRENTS Charles H. McGill and James P. Richeson, Decatur, Ala., assignors to Monsanto Company, a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 30, 1962, Ser. No. 241,275 4 Claims. (Cl. 83-402) -This invention relates to cutting devices and more particularly to devices for cutting staple fibers.

A commonly used staple fiber cutter, known as the Beria cutter, comprises a rotating disc which Ais provided with an axial opening leading to a radial opening. Tow is fed into the radial opening and is advanced outward through a ferrule in the radial opening by centrifugal force, the disc being rotated at a high speed. A blade positioned adjacent to the periphery of the disc cuts the tow into short lengths. One of the disadvantages of this cutter is that the filaments in the tow do not all extend radially outward from the ferrule and, consequently, some of the fibers are cut to undesirable length. With this in mind, one of the objects `of this invention is to provide a novel and improved staple fiber cutter.

Another object of this invention is to provide a staple lfiber cutter which cleanly cuts all of the filaments in a tow.

A further `object of this invention is to provide a staple fiber cutter of the Beria type wherein all of the filaments in the tow extend radially outward from the disc.

Still another object of this invention is -to provide a Beria type staple fiber cutter having vents through which iiowing air passes to hold all fila-ments of a tow in radial positions.

One embodiment of the present invention contemplates a staple fiber cutter of the Beria type which is provided with a plurality of radial air passageways connected to a manifold which is in turn connected to axial passageways. Rotation of the disc at 4a high speed causes air to iiow into the manifold through the axial passageways openings and to exit at high speed through the radial passageways. The radial passageways are adjacent to the ferrule so that the radially moving air sweeps the filaments to radial positions.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent when the following detailed description is read in conjunction with the appended drawing, in which FIGURE 1 is a side View of the apparatus in which the cutter of the present invention is mounted,

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged front view taken on line 2--2 of FIGURE 1 showing the cutter mounted in a conventional duct,

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary front view of the cutter showing the openings in the nose thereof,

lFIGURE 4 is a side view of the cutter showing the air passageways and the manifold, and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 5 5 of FIGURE 3 showing the configuration of the inlet air passageways in the nose of the cutter.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, a motor 11 is shown acting through a shaft 12 to drive a cutter disc 13 at a high speed. The disc is provided with a frustoconical projection or nose 15 having an axial opening -16 into which a tow 14 made up of individual filaments is fed. The axial opening 16 is connected to a radial opening in which is mounted a ferrule 18. A knife or blade 20 positioned adjacent to the disc 13 severs the tow. This arrangement and the manner in which the tow is fed through the cutter are well known.

IThe cutter disc 13 is mounted in a conventional duct 21, the tow 14 being fed to the cutter disc 13 by a tow 3,217,578 Patented Nov. 16, 1965 lCe advancing mechanism 15 of a well known type. The duct 21 and the tow advancing mechanism `are not described in detail, since these elements are old and well known in the art.

To insure that all of the filaments in the tow 14 extend radially from the ferrule `18 and do not bend over toward a tangential position, a pair of exhaust ports or passageways 22 and 23 are provided. The tow 14 lies in the ferrule 18--because of inertia, centrifugal force and air resistance-in substantially the position shown in FIG- URE 4. The exhaust ports 22 and 23 extend radially into the disc 13 and are positioned approximately 90 apart around the ferrule at 6 oclock and 9 oclock positions (FIGURE 4). In other words, one of the exhaust ports 23 'is behind the ferrule (considering the direction of movement of the ferrule) and the other 22 is positioned between the ferrule and the rear face of the disc 13. Air leaving these ports urges the filaments of the tow into radially extended positions to insure the success of the cutting operation.

The exhaust ports 22 and 23 are connected to an annular manifold 26 in the disc 13. The manifold 26 is connected to a plurality of axially extended intake ports or passageways 28 which extend through a frustoconical projection or nose on the front face of the disc 13. The intake and exhaust ports and the manifold 26 are not connected to the passageway through which the tow 14 passes. Upon rotation of the disc 13 at a high speed, centrifugal force forces air to exit from the exhaust ports 22 and 23 at high speed to thereby insure that all of the filaments in the tow 14 extend outward from the disc l13 so that the knife 20 cuts them all evenly and to the same length. The inlet ports 28 are curved as shown to increase the Velocity of the air from the exhaust ports 22 and 23. The intake ends of the intake ports 28 are enlarged as shown in FIGURE 5 to enhance the flow of air through the cutter disc.

The lstreams or jets of air from the exhaust ports overcome the tendency of some of the filaments in the edge of the tow to bend and lie in positions tangent to the disc 13. Thus, the blade 21 will cut all of the filaments evenly and to the same length.

It is to be understood that the embodiment disclosed herein may be altered or amended and that numerous other embodiments can be contemplated without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A staple ber cutter, comprising a rotating cutter disc having an axial opening interconnected with a radial opening for passage of a tow of filaments, and a blade positioned to cooperate with the disc to sever the tow as said tow exits from the radial opening, said disc also having therein a radial exhaust port interconnected with an intake passageway in such a manner that air flows outward from the exhaust port at high speed, said exhaust port terminating at a point adjacent to the radial opening so that said air from said exhaust port sweeps the filaments of the tow toward radial positions relative to the disc, said port being so positioned that as the disc turns the radial opening leads the exhaust port.

2. A staple fiber cutter, comprising a rotating disc having an axial opening interconnected with a radial opening in such a manner that a strand to be. -cut moves into the axial opening and out of the radial opening, and a blade positioned to cooperate with the disc to sever the strand, said disc having therein a chamber and a plurality of intake passageways leading from the face of the disc to said chamber, said disc also having therein an exhaust passageway leading radially from the chamber to a point on the periphery of the disc adjacent to the end of said radial opening, said port being so positioned that as the disc turns the radial opening leads the exhaust port.

3. A staple ber cutter, comprising a rotating cutter disc having an axial opening interconnected with a radial opening in such a manner that a strand advanced into the axial opening exits from the disc through the radial opening, and a blade positioned to cooperate with the disc to sever the strand exiting from the radial opening, said disc having therein an annular chamber positioned coaxially with the disc, said disc also having a plurality of inlet passageways leading from the face of the disc to the chamber, said disc also having a plurality of outlet passageways leading from the chamber to points adjacent to the outer end of said radial opening, said points being positioned in a quadrant extending around said radial opening from a location between the radial opening and the back of the disc to a location trailing the radial opening as the disc turns.

4. A staple fiber cutter, comprising a disc having on the front face thereof a frustoconical projection concentric with said disc, means connected to the disc for rotating said disc, Said disc having therein a radial opening and an axial opening interconnected with each other for the passage of a tow of filaments, said axial opening extending into the disc from the front face thereof, and a blade positioned to cooperate with the disc to sever the tow exiting from said radial opening, said disc also having therein a chamber and a pair of air exhaust ports, said exhaust ports being connected to the chamber and terminating on the periphery of the disc, said disc also having a plurality of substantially longitudinal air intake ports connected to the chamber in such a manner that air moves into the chamber through the intake ports and exits from the disc through the exhaust ports, one of said exhaust ports being positioned between said radial opening and the back face of the disc, the other port being positioned so that as the disc turns said radial opening leads said other port.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,202,477 5/1940 Bartunek et al. 83-403 2,296,298 9/1942 Spalding et a1. 83-403 2,559,700 7/1951 Bauer 83-402 2,607,418 8/1952 Hebeler 83-913 WILLIAM W. DYER, IR., Primary Examiner.

HUNTER C. BOURNE, IR., ANDREW R. JUHASZ, Examiners. 

1. A STAPLE FIBER CUTTER, COMPRISING A ROTATING CUTTER DISC HAVING AN AXIAL OPENING INTERCONNECTED WITH A RADIAL OPENING FOR PASSAGE OF A TOW OF FILAMENTS, AND A BLADE POSITIONED TO COOPERATE WITH THE DISC TO SEVER THE TOW AS SAID TOW EXISTS FROM THE RADIAL OPENING, SAID DISC ALSO HAVING THEREIN A RADIAL EXHAUST PORT INTERCONNECTED WITH AN INTAKE PASSAGEWAY IN SUCH A MANNER THAT AIR FLOWS OUTWARD FROM THE EXHAUST PORT AT HIGH SPEED, SAID EXHAUST PORT TERMINATING AT A POINT ADJACENT TO THE RADIAL OPENING SO THAT SAID AIR FROM SAID EXHAUST PORT SWEEPS THE FILAMENTS OF THE TOW TOWARD RADIAL POSITIONS RELATIVE TO THE DISC, SAID PORT BEING SO POSITIONED THAT AS THE DISC TURNS THE RADIAL OPENING LEADS THE EXHAUST PORT. 